Sorcha
Sorcha is the heroine of the first book in the Sevenwaters series, Daughter of the Forest. She is the youngest and only daughter of Lord Colum's seven children, sister to Liam, Diarmid, Conor, Cormack, Finbar, and Padriac. When her brothers are cast under a terrible curse, she saves them by sewing shirts made of starwort. Biography Early Life Sorcha's mother died giving birth to her, and for thirteen years she was raised by her six older brothers. Her father, shattered by the loss of his wife, closed off his heart towards his children, and focused on fighting in the feud between Sevenwaters and Northwoods. Hence, Sorcha grew up believing that her father did not love her and that he hated her for causing the death of her mother. Daughter of the Forest Sorcha is the central character of Daughter of the Forest. She is twelve years old at the beginning of the story, and is a bit of a tomboy, and innocent of what goes on in the real world outside Sevenwaters. After an event that led her to touch a starwort plant (a small green plant with flowers that is actually completely coated in fine small needles that cause excruciating pain) that embedded needles in her hand as a child, she begins to research and study the art of healing to the point where she would constantly pester the older ladies in the village with questions. Eventually after years of studying, she takes on the role of the healer in Sevenwaters and spends her days commuting to the village and helping the people. Early in the novel, she assists her brother Finbar with rescuing a Briton which her father had captured and subjected to torture to find out what he knew. She later secretly helps heal the Briton, which changes her view of the world and her people forever. From a vision of the Lady of the Forest, Sorcha discovers that the Briton, Simon, is the first step on the road to her destiny. As Simon is nearing the end of his recovering, Sorcha is forced to abandon him as she has to return home to meet the Lady Oonagh, who was brought back unexpectedly by Colum to become his new wife. Lord Colum had met Lady Oonagh during one of his campaigns and brought her back at the end of it. Sorcha soon sees Lady Oonagh for who she truly is: an evil sorceress that bodes no good for the people of Sevenwaters. Lady Oonagh tries to gain information from Sorcha about each of her brothers, so that she can use it against them, but Sorcha refuses to speak, although she cannot keep Lady Oonagh out completely. When her brothers are cast under a spell by the Lady Oonagh, Sorcha is tasked with freeing them from the curse by sewing six shirts made of the terrible starwort, and she must stay silent until the task is complete. She faces many hardships, and eventually falls into the hands of Hugh of Harrowfield, also known as Red, who takes her with him to Harrowfield where Sorcha lives for nearly a year. Gradually, Sorcha and Hugh of Harrowfield fall in love, although Sorcha does does not realize it until she leaves Harrowfield. When the curse is broken and Sorcha returns to Sevenwaters with her brothers, she realizes that she loves him, but believes that she has realized it too late. Once the siblings return home, they find that much has changed and Sevenwaters has fallen into ruin under the Lady Oonagh, who one day unexpectedly took her newborn son, Ciarán, and fled without a word to anyone. This was a final blow to Lord Colum who then deteriorated and ended up spending his days sitting in Sorcha's old little garden. With the help of the seven of them, they slowly start to heal and repair Sevenwaters and Finbar helps to gently coax and heal their father who is still solemn but happy to have his children home. Everything seems to have slowly started to go back to a new ensemble of normal, yet Sorcha feels incomplete and troubled since leaving behind Red in Harrowfield. Yet one day, during an after-dinner gathering where everyone came together to hear stories, guards appear dragging Red in between them. They say that they found him waiting for them to find him and easily went along with their demands. At first the household is suspicious of him, Sorcha's own brothers being on guard and bitter against him, yet with the persuasion of Lord Colum, he is allowed to tell them a story. A story that ends up becoming one of himself and how he loved and cared deeply for Sorcha. By the end of the story, Lord Colum gently urges his daughter to choose for herself and Sorcha goes to Red, which then results in them officially becoming a couple. Sorcha's brothers, thought wary, respect their father's choice, especially since he is still a lord with standing. In the end, Red and Sorcha have an open relationship as husband and wife, and by the end of the novel Sorcha is pregnant with their first child, Niamh. ''Son of the Shadows'' In Son of the Shadows, Sorcha is the central pillar of the Sevenwaters family. Although older and ill, her opinion in all matters is highly valued. Everyone in the village speaks highly of her and pass the tale of how she had saved her brothers with her courage and love. Her children take on her traits and help to pass them along, showing how much of an affectionate and caring mother she is. Sorcha's Daughter, Liadan who has continued on her work as a healer, realizes how ill she is and tries to help her in any way she can. When disaster strikes the family once more and the hands of the Lady Oonagh seem to be slowly spreading again, her brothers never tell her of the old evil returning, so that she is not distressed in her final days. She dies in the middle of the novel, of what would now be called uterinary cancer. She is held a burial in which all her brothers minus Diarmid and Cormack who have died by this point during a battle for the Islands, all gather again for the first time, including Finbar who had gone missing years before after Red and Sorcha had first gotten together again at the end of the first book. Physical appearance Sorcha has curly dark hair and fey-green eyes, and a slight build. She is almost the exact image of her mother, Niamh, so much that Lord Colum cannot bear to look at her at times in her childhood. Personality Sorcha is kind and gentle, but filled with quiet determination. She possesses a steadfast work ethic, as she spends her days treating the sick and tending to her gardens, growing food, herbs, and flowers. Due to her affection for animals, Sorcha refuses to eat meat and most often walks barefoot, as she doesn't wish for an animal to die so she can have shoes. Sorcha has a deep love for the forest, her home, and her brothers. She is especially close to Finbar, as they share a psychic bond and a fondness for solitude. When she learns of Liam's plans to marry, she's resistant to the idea of change, as she's comfortable with the life she knows. However, Sorcha proves to be adaptable when her brothers are turned into swans, as she goes into hiding and works for three years to finish the magic ritual that will save them. During this time she overcomes rape, depression, persecution, and imprisonment, emerging triumphant in the end with her strength, endurance, and sense of familial loyalty. Relationships Hugh of Harrowfield Sorcha first meets Hugh of Harrowfield (also known as Red) when he saves her from drowning in the ocean. Initially, she is afraid of him, because of the feud, and believes that he is holding her hostage and her initial fear of men that had been left as a psychological shadow following the events of her being raped not long before. As she travels with him to Harrowfield, she gradually falls in love with him, although she does not know it until she has returned to Sevenwaters. Hugh is the brother of Simon, the boy that Sorcha had saved as a child that later disappeared after she was forced to leave him half way through his recovery treatment. Through this mutual connection, Hugh uses it as a reason to take Sorcha back with him to Harrowfield where he can protect her and wait till she is ready to tell him what happened to his brother. Along the way falling in love with her. Sorcha and Red have a loving relationship. Red is extremely protective of her, and when Sorcha falls ill he is almost always at her side, and gives her the love and support she needs. Shortly before her death, Sorcha tells Red to return to Harrowfield to discover what happened to Margery's son Johnny, knowing that he would need a new purpose to help him deal with his grief. Finbar Out of all her brothers, Sorcha is closest to Finbar. They share a sort of telepathy, in which they can speak mind to mind no matter the distance and are able to read each others thoughts, though Finbar becomes adept at shielding some of his thoughts from Sorcha. When Finbar leaves Sevenwaters at the end of Daughter of the Forest, everyone believes that he has drowned except Sorcha. Family Tree *'Father:' Lord Colum *'Mother:' Niamh *'Siblings' **'Liam' **'Diarmid' **'Conor' **'Cormack' **'Finbar' **'Padriac' **'Ciarán' (half brother) *'Husband:' Hugh of Harrowfield (Red) *'In-laws:' **'Mother-in-law': Lady Anne **'Brother-in-law': Simon *'Children:' **'Niamh' **'Sean and Liadan' (twins) *'Grandchildren:' **'Johnny, Fintan, Cormack, Coll' (sons of Liadan and Bran) **'Fainne' (daughter of Niamh and Ciarán, and, therefore, also niece) **'Muirrin, Clodagh, Deirdre, Maeve, Sibeal, Eilis, Finbar ' (children of Sean and Aisling) *'Great-grandchildren:' **'Oisin, Emer '(children of Illan and Deirdre) **'Danny, Niamh ''' (children of Fainne and Darragh)'' **'Unnamed child '(child of Muirrin and Evan) **'Unnamed daughter '(child of Felix and Sibeal) **'Firinne, Ronan '(children of Clodagh and Cathal) Appearances *Daughter of the Forest *Son of the Shadows Category:Characters Category:Protagonists Category:Sevenwaters Family